Lander-born designer making waves in music tech space

Mark Gullickson grew up in Wyoming, graduating from Lander Valley High
School in 1989. "I always loved car design," he recalls. "My dad has a 1969
Mustang that he bought new, and I would always stare at it growing up. I
still do to this day. I've always wanted to become a car designer and can
remember drawing them as far back as the 4th grade."
[image: Mark profile lj.png]
Mark attended the University of Wyoming, entered the Mechanical Engineering
program, assuming that engineers designed cars. "Back in 1989, Wyoming was
much more isolated, the internet didn't exist, so I had no idea it was the
wrong path." Regardless, he received a Bachelor of Science in ME in 1994.
At that time, he received a copy of Autoweek Magazine. They had an article
about Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. "The story was about
their 'Transportation Design' program, and they showed mind-blowing 3D
computer renderings of futuristic cars. In 1994 this was unheard of. I was
hooked!"
Mark moved to California in 1995 to go to Art Center, learned about the
industry. "I realized that I would be stuck in either Detroit or Los
Angeles to pursue this dream. Dream crashed." So, he switched to "Product
Design" mid-way through school because it is much more versatile than
Transportation Design. He graduated in 1999 with a BS in Product Design. He
designed mobile phones for Samsung 2001-2008 for their design studio in Los
Angeles, and became one of the managers who drove their design language and
strategic vision for the North American market. That became the foundation
for Samsung's success today, and it hooked him on technology and the future
of entertainment and communication.
[image: Mark and the Rocketcan.png]
In 2008, Mark founded Designfunhouse Enterprises with a business partner.
It is based in the Los Angeles area. It is a product development company,
performing design and strategic vision contracting duties. "I learned that
being an entrepreneur, requires you to perform multiple tasks, so the ME
degree I received from the University of Wyoming became essential to my
success in the design world, complementing my design degree perfectly. In
this space, it's a rare combination.
In 2014, he founded Supertora, a partner company of Designfunhouse, and is
based in Lander, Wyoming. "This helps me split my time between Santa Monica
and Lander. Supertora continues to explore entrepreneurial paths." In early
2015 he was approached by a friend who works at Google. His friend had a
revelation when he dropped his phone while running, cracking the screen. He
asked what I thought about a very small music player that plays Spotify
streaming music without a smartphone and can go off the grid. "I said it's
fantastic, and I would love to have this hiking and biking in Wyoming, you
should build it." Mark shared. "Then he asked if I knew anything about
technology and building products. I said 'absolutely!' and together we
established Mighty right there on the spot."
One year later Mighty has a page on Kickstarter
,
a popular site for crowdsourcing funding for product and business ideas,
that has garnered more than $250,000 in backing.
Mighty is getting national attention on prominent tech sites (Mashable
, The Verge
,
Time ).
Watch the vid and join the campaign to launch a product with a little
Wyoming independence built right in.
#bootstrapped #county10 #news

Lander-born designer making waves in music tech space

Mark Gullickson grew up in Wyoming, graduating from Lander Valley High
School in 1989. "I always loved car design," he recalls. "My dad has a 1969
Mustang that he bought new, and I would always stare at it growing up. I
still do to this day. I've always wanted to become a car designer and can
remember drawing them as far back as the 4th grade."
[image: Mark profile lj.png]
Mark attended the University of Wyoming, entered the Mechanical Engineering
program, assuming that engineers designed cars. "Back in 1989, Wyoming was
much more isolated, the internet didn't exist, so I had no idea it was the
wrong path." Regardless, he received a Bachelor of Science in ME in 1994.
At that time, he received a copy of Autoweek Magazine. They had an article
about Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. "The story was about
their 'Transportation Design' program, and they showed mind-blowing 3D
computer renderings of futuristic cars. In 1994 this was unheard of. I was
hooked!"
Mark moved to California in 1995 to go to Art Center, learned about the
industry. "I realized that I would be stuck in either Detroit or Los
Angeles to pursue this dream. Dream crashed." So, he switched to "Product
Design" mid-way through school because it is much more versatile than
Transportation Design. He graduated in 1999 with a BS in Product Design. He
designed mobile phones for Samsung 2001-2008 for their design studio in Los
Angeles, and became one of the managers who drove their design language and
strategic vision for the North American market. That became the foundation
for Samsung's success today, and it hooked him on technology and the future
of entertainment and communication.
[image: Mark and the Rocketcan.png]
In 2008, Mark founded Designfunhouse Enterprises with a business partner.
It is based in the Los Angeles area. It is a product development company,
performing design and strategic vision contracting duties. "I learned that
being an entrepreneur, requires you to perform multiple tasks, so the ME
degree I received from the University of Wyoming became essential to my
success in the design world, complementing my design degree perfectly. In
this space, it's a rare combination.
In 2014, he founded Supertora, a partner company of Designfunhouse, and is
based in Lander, Wyoming. "This helps me split my time between Santa Monica
and Lander. Supertora continues to explore entrepreneurial paths." In early
2015 he was approached by a friend who works at Google. His friend had a
revelation when he dropped his phone while running, cracking the screen. He
asked what I thought about a very small music player that plays Spotify
streaming music without a smartphone and can go off the grid. "I said it's
fantastic, and I would love to have this hiking and biking in Wyoming, you
should build it." Mark shared. "Then he asked if I knew anything about
technology and building products. I said 'absolutely!' and together we
established Mighty right there on the spot."
One year later Mighty has a page on Kickstarter
,
a popular site for crowdsourcing funding for product and business ideas,
that has garnered more than $250,000 in backing.
Mighty is getting national attention on prominent tech sites (Mashable
, The Verge
,
Time ).
Watch the vid and join the campaign to launch a product with a little
Wyoming independence built right in.
#bootstrapped #county10 #news